You're Not Alone
by sebastians-pierced-penis
Summary: Your own parents didn't want you anymore and you felt all alone in this world. Life wasn't worth living. However Carlos wanted to prove you wrong.
1. Chapter 1

You ran. You didn't know where you were running to but you just had to get away. So you ran. Your legs wouldn't stop moving. You didn't know what else to do therefore you ran. Tears started streaming down your face as you sprinted down the street, passing strangers as they stared and whispered among themselves. You didn't care. They could stare all they want because you were never going to see their faces again so they can judge you until they felt satisfied. Nothing mattered anymore. Why? Because your parents no longer loved you. They no longer wanted you as their child anymore.

Your vision was becoming blurry and it was getting difficult to see. After wiping your eyes on your shirt, you realised you were at the local playground. The same playground where you spent most of your childhood at with your mum and dad. The same mum and dad who now hated you. You stopped running and looked up and saw the playground you always loved as a kid and remembered how the tunnel underneath the slide was your secret hiding place. It was that one place where you always sought comfort in whenever you were upset because this was where you first met your best friend, Carlos Garcia. You were only 8 and he saw you crying one day in that exact tunnel and asked if you wanted a bite of his cupcake in an attempt to cheer you up. From that day forward, to this day, another 8 years later, you guys have been closer than ever. You always thought that the tunnel was some magical castle that was unseen from the outside because it was hidden so well, so you always felt safe and even safer with Carlos there.

You ran towards the tunnel, desperate to feel that same security and reassurance you had felt as a kid.

You climbed in, surprised that you could still fit inside after so many years. You sat in the middle and looked up at the roof of the tunnel to see the drawings you left when you were 7. You and Carlos had drawn the two of you holdings hands while standing under a rainbow with the words 'Best Friends' underneath. Above that picture was one you had drawn yourself. It was a drawing of you and your parents playing at the park, smiling. Next to the picture you saw your own handwriting.

"I love mummy and daddy and they love me too"

You started sobbing uncontrollably as you realised that it was a lie. A stupid childish hope. Your parents didn't love you, at least not anymore. You squeezed your eyes shut as the conversation started replaying in your head. You tried to fight it off but it was too late. It already consumed your mind.

"_Sweetie, can you come down for a minute?" your mum was calling for you from the living room._

"_Mum later! I gotta finish this stupid assignment" you yelled back, frustrated at the task in front of you. You had a stupid science practical assignment due in two days and you haven't even started it the expected one week experiment._

"_Please just come down, it's important."_

"_Argh fine" you mumbled._

_You stood up and walked out of your room, slamming the door behind you. Why couldn't your mum just leave you alone so you could finish the stupid assignment? _

"_What now mum?" you said angrily as you walked into the living to find both your mum and dad sitting on the sofa with strange looks on their faces._

_Your father gestured towards the chair, wordlessly asking you to have a seat._

_You walked slowly to the seat in front of you and sat down "What's goooinnng onnnn?" you asked dragging out your words, confused with their expressions._

"_Look sweetie", your mum began. She bit her lip and looked as if she was about to cry. Your dad was about to speak up when your mum put her hand on his chest and whispered to him "Let me do it, I can do it"._

_You didn't understand what they were talking about. It was only less than 2 hours ago that all three of you were sitting at the dinner table laughing and smiling while talking about everyone's day, enjoying lunch. What could have happened in those short two hours?_

"_Mum…"_

"_Look sweetie" she said again "You know that we have recently been having some...financial problems right?"_

"_Um yeah, you owe the bank a bit of money, that's all." You said, smiling, thinking it was no big deal._

"_Well darling, it's a little bit more complicated than that. See the thing is...we owe the bank A LOT of money, more money than we could possibly afford to pay right now."_

_You stopped smiling, and looked into your mother's eye as they showed fear. "Okay…." You slowly replied, trying to figure out where she was going with this._

"_And right now me and your father are finding it hard to get enough money to take care of this family and keep the house and….." your mum let out a soft sob. Your dad wrapped his arm around his wife, giving her a tight squeeze in an attempt to comfort her. _

"_And what mum?" you whispered with a hint of anger in your voice. Why couldn't she just get to the point? Why was she crying? You grabbed the pillow next you and poking and pinching it, trying to distract yourself. "What are you trying to say?"_

_This time, it was your dad who spoke "honey, what your mother was trying to say was that with our current situation with the bank…we can't afford to take care of you."_

_You feel into shock. It took you a few seconds to completely comprehend what just came out of your dad's mouth. "You can't afford to take care of me?" you whispered as your eyes started forming tears._

"_Sweetie..." your dad said while holding your crying mother._

_You stood up and threw the pillow you were holding across the room. It hit a vase, breaking it. "What is that suppose to fucking mean?" you yelled, not caring if you swore in front of your parents "you can't __**afford**__ me! What am I to you? A freaking dog! I'm your daughter and you cant afford to take care of me?"_

"_Honey that's not what we meant!" you dad stood up and grabbed onto your arms, trying to calm you down "Just let us explain! We have almost no money, you mother and I. You mean the world to us but we can't provide for you anymore and so that's why…..that's why we're putting you into the foster care system so you can be in a family capable of taking care of you."_

_You stood completely still. Foster care system? They…they were gonna practically give you away. You tried to talk but you simply couldn't. Your whole body was numb, your brain was empty. You couldn't think properly._

"_A social worker is coming to pick you up tomorrow…." Your dad whispered, looking down at his feet before turning his head towards your still crying mum. "Your mother and I love you, which is why we're doing this. We can't take care of you anymore. We want you to have a good life"_

"_No" you said quietly at first, before you screamed out "NO!"_

_You broke out of your dad's hold and slapped him across the face. He was completely taken back by your action and fell back onto the sofa next to your mum who had let out a squeal._

_As you walked towards the front door, you turned back and continued yelling "You don't love me! If you did you would try to fix this and make sure that we would stay as a family! But you just wanted an easy way out so you're giving me away. Like I'm fucking trash." You were completely balling your eyes out as you spoke._

"_No!" your mum cried out, finally speaking up "It's not like that sweetie! We love you. You have no idea how hard this is for us."_

_You glared at the woman "Hard? Oh I can't imagine how hard it must be to give me away to save a couple bucks. You know what? Fuck this" you shouted, throwing your hands up in the air. "If you don't want and going to give me away to some freaking creepy family, then why don't I make this easier for you and your stupid social worker. I'm leaving."_

_With that you grabbed your coat and ran out of the house and down the street._

You opened your eyes as you heard someone walking towards the tunnel. You immediately stopped crying as you saw a pair of legs at the tunnel entrance. You held your breath, hoping the stranger wouldn't notice you. But unlucky for you, your cries were louder than you had expected.

"Hey…are you okay?" you recognised the soft voice that spoke. It was Carlos.

You immediately looked at the entrance and saw the dark haired boy kneeling down and peering into the tunnel.

"Ca-Carlos" you said surprised. "What...what are you doing here?"

He offered a gentle smile "I could ask you the same thing, may I come in?"

You smiled back "Of course, welcome"

Your best friend climbed in and sat next to you, putting one of his arms around you and whispered in your ear "Are you okay? Talk to me"

You shook your head and whispered back "Yeah I'm fine...it's nothing..."

"Nothing" Carlos used his other hand and lifted your head so you were looking straight in his eyes. "that's not the face of a girl who is the least bit okay. Talk to me. I know something happened with your parents."

"What? How did you know?" you asked, confused as to how he knew it was about your mum and dad.

Carlos made a face that showed a sense of awkwardness "well…." He began "the thing is, your mum called me as soon as you ran away."

You couldn't believe what you were hearing. Why would see involve Carlos? It had nothing to do with him! What right did she have to tell people that you were an unwanted child who was now a run-away? You were fuming mad and the Latino could see it in your eyes.

"Look before you get mad!" he quickly said, trying to clam you down "she didn't tell me what happened! All she told me was that you guys had a fight about something _I don't know about_ and that you had run away. She wants to come home."

"_Home?_ She wants me to come home?" you hissed as you clenched your fist in anger. "You wanna know why I ran away?"

"You don't have to tell m-"

"Its because she was going to give me to a fucking social worker and put me in the fucking foster system! So what's the point of coming home when I'm going to live with another family?" You felt the urge to cry come back as soon as you said it out loud.

Carlos' eyes went wide and his mouth dropped in shock "What? Are you serious? Why would they do that? What are they thinking?" It was now your bestie's turn to get mad. "Why on earth would they leave you with a social worker? Are they out of their fucking mind?"

He punched the wall of the tunnel in anger, making you jump slightly. You had never seen him so angry. You looked at his knuckles and could see them going red. You wrapped both your hands around his, trying to get him to relax. After a minute of silence, Carlos finally returned back to normal.

"Why would they do that?" he calmly asked, doing his best to keep his cool.

You looked down at your intertwined hands as you spoke "They said they don't have enough money to take care of me and that I'm 'better off' in the system"

Carlos shook his head in disbelief "That's just not right" he said under his breath "It doesn't mean they can just give you away. Its just not right. Its just not right"

He kept repeating those last four words over and over again as if he could change the situation by doing so. You rested your head on the 16 year old's chest as he wrapped his arms around you and gave you a tight squeeze. You felt so safe in his arms, as if he was going to protect you from everything. From all the pain.

"Carlos, I'm all alone" you said in between sobs "no one loves me."

"People love you, trust me" he placed his head on top of yours as he held you while you cried.

"No they don't. Even my own parents don't love me and want to leave me. I'm all alone" with every word that came out of your mouth, you cried harder and harder. Its was getting difficult to breathe and all of a sudden you suddenly felt like a plastic bag was placed over your head.

Carlos noticed the change in your breathing and asked if you were okay.

"I-I can't breathe, I gotta…I gotta get out of here." You choked out as you pulled away from the boy and climbed out the tunnel.

Quickly following you outside, Carlos put his hand on your back as you stood with you bent back and hands on your knees as you tried to catch your breath.

"Are you okay?" he asked again while rubbing your back.

You took a couple of deep breathes before answering. "Yeah…..I just need to go for a walk…"

You slowly stood up straight with the help of the dark haired boy and looked around. The sun was starting to set and in less than an hour it would be completely dark.

"Do you want me to come with you?" the Latino asked, with a concern look on his face as he scanned the surroundings, noticing the upcoming darkness as well.

"No its okay…I need some alone time right now." You started walking away before you felt a hand on your arm. You turned back to face Carlos.

"You're not alone. I will be here for you no matter what, okay? You're not alone" You could sense the worry and truth in his voice but right now, you just couldn't trust his words so you gave a soft nod and "mmm" before walking away once again.


	2. Chapter 2

You looked up at the night sky and started counting the stars as you walked. When you reach 150, you gave up. Letting out a loud sigh, you looked around. You had been walking for over 2 hours straight but you didn't feel tired for some reason. Usually a 5 minute walk was enough to take the breath out of you but strangely tonight you just weren't tired. Maybe it was because you had so much running through your head. Yeah, that's probably it. Too busy thinking to notice any pains or signs of fatigue. You continued walking down the dark street. There was absolutely no other soul in sight. It was simply you and the shadows of the night.

At first you didn't know where to go but after a while, you found yourself heading towards the old wharf. It was another one of your favourite places. This was where you and Carlos first camped out. You had to admit it wasn't exactly the ideal location for a camp night but it was better than nothing. That was the night where you guys had truly become best friends. You guys shared all your secrets that night and everything was perfect. You couldn't remember a time you had ever felt so comfortable with anyone, even with your own parents. It was also that night that you realised you were in love with Carlos. You were only 12 but you knew for certain that what you felt was love and for the next 4 years, you were proven right. Not for a single moment did your feelings ever change for him.

As you made a right turn, you had finally reached the wharf. You could hear the soft splashes of waves as they crashed into the side of the old abandoned platform. The path was lit up by a small number of street lamps that managed to only cover about two-thirds of the ground; however, despite the lack of light, you could tell there was no one else around. _ Perfect,_ you thought.

You slowly walked to the end of the wharf and sat on the edge of the wall, with your legs hanging off towards the water. You looked down as the waves moved underneath you and you could see the moon's reflection, glistening in the water ever so slightly. You smiled at the sight.

"Such a beautiful night" you sighed as you looked back up at the sky, talking to no one but yourself.

You loved this wharf so much. That one night you spent here with Carlos was absolutely perfect. Every memory that came with this wharf brought a smile to your face. Which is why you chose to spend your last few moments here.

_Tonight's my last night_ you thought to yourself as a hopeless smile came across your face.

Tonight was going to be your last night, not as a part of a real family, but your last night _ever. _While you were walking around, you thought about everything. You thought about how happy you were as a kid with you parents, how your friendship with Carlos was and is perfect, how your life was going to be completely ruined from tomorrow onwards and how all this happiness was going to be shattered in a instant as if it were an illusion. You didn't want to lose this sense of freedom and joy. You wanted to savour it forever, which was why you decided to end your life tonight. It came to you as a mutual decision between….well, yourself. You weren't scared nor were you particularly excited about it. You just knew this was the right thing to do in order to preserve all the good memories and feelings. If you ended it all now, you didn't have to feel any more pain and could leave this world a happy girl.

"This is it for me I guess" you whispered, still staring up at the starry sky "there's still so much I want to do…I never got the chance to meet Ellen DeGeneres, haven't been to prom yet, never been asked out, never got to travel the world or meet a hot British guy." You let out a chuckle as you went through your life to-do list. "Never got to have a proper first kiss or learnt how to drive. Never had a chance to have my big dream wedding or ski dive. Never got to finish school or earn a scholarship to London."

You took a long deep breath and let out a sigh. "So much left to do…never got to do any of these things. I really wanted to do it all…but most of all, I wanted…" you felt your eyes begin to water and you smiled, wiping away any tears "so stupid. Why am I crying?...ha of course you know why you're crying….i never got to do the number one thing on my list….to tell Carlos I loved him"

As soon as these words left your mouth, you heard a guitar strumming behind you. The sound scared you and you let out a soft squeal. You turned around to see where the music was coming from and what you saw took you completely by surprise.

There underneath a street light, was your best friend with a guitar in his hands and roses in front of him on the ground. Carlos was staring straight at you as he began to sing.

_I've been right there for every minute and this time, its no different. Whatever happens you should knowwwwww…._

God he sounded so beautiful. You had never heard Carlos sing before. Heck you didn't even know he had that voice inside of him.

_Cause you're not alonneee girll, look over your shouulderr .You don't have to wonder cause you know you know you know, cause you're not alone giirrl, I'll be there to hold ya. _

You stood up with tears rolling down your cheeks and walked towards the singing boy.

_I'll sit there till it's over and you know you know you know that you're not aloneeeeeeeeeeee. That you're not aloneeeeeeeeee._

You were now right in front of him, watching the love of your life sing to you. Not once did your eye contact ever break. Carlos smiled as he sang the last line.

_You're not aloneee._

He then put down the guitar and picked up the roses and gave them to you. You took them into your arms and whispered his name as he grabbed you around the waist and spoke in a low quiet voice.

"You are not alone. You never were. You said that no one loved you. But you're so wrong. I love you. So much. Every since the day we first met in the tunnel and we shared my cupcake, I haven't been able to stop loving you."

You looked at Carlos, seeing if he was telling the truth and not only saying it to make you feel better. You expected to see uncertainty in his eyes but instead found something else. You saw passion, honesty and truth in his eyes and smile. "Carlos…."

"You are not alone in this world. I will be here by your side no matter what happens, protecting you from anything that may ever cause you pain. I never want to see you shed another tear" he continued, wiping away a teardrop from your cheeks with his finger tip. "Please don't ever put yourself in danger like that again. I love you."

You had so much to say to him, so much to confess. Over the past 4 years you have been waiting for this moment and you had a million things to say but all you could manage, the only words that could really describe how you felt were "I love you too Carlos"

After hearing you say those 5 words, the boy's smile grew even bigger and brighter. "Really?"

"Yes, really" You wanted to kiss him so badly, but you were waiting for the right moment.

"I love you" he whispered once again

"I love you too" you both began to lean in to kiss but before your lips touched, Carlos pulled away.

"Are you sureeeeee?" he teased, lightly tapping a finger against your nose. You couldn't help but laugh.

"Yes I'm sure. Now shut up and kiss me."

He put a hand on your cheek and stuck his tongue out "you don't have to tell me twice"

You closed your eyes and felt your lips come in contact with his. At first the kiss was slow and uncertain but as time passed, the nerves went away and it grew more and more passionate. Everything around you simply disappeared as you melted in Carlos' arm. Nothing else mattered except you and him.

He then slowly broke off the kiss and placed a soft kiss on your forehead as he spoke "let's spend the rest of the night here and just forget everything else. Just you and me. We can finally have that very long overdue campout. Whaddya think?"

You smiled at the thought of reliving that childhood memory and nodded yes.


	3. Chapter 3

You woke up the next morning to the sounds of seagulls, flying over your head. You opened your eyes to yourself lying on a blanket with Carlos next to you, who was already awake.

"Good morning sleepy head" he beamed as he looked down to see you finally wake up.

"Good morning" you laughed "how long have you been awake?"

"Oh only for a half hour or so" he replied while fiddling with his phone. He wouldn't stop smiling. It wasn't a morning smile though; it was more like a I-Just-Won-The-Lottery-Smile combined with a cheeky mischievous smirk.

You found yourself staring at him, trying to figure out what was going on for a little too long.

"Uhh…something wrong?" Carlos asked, breaking your train of thought.

You quickly replied "oh no no, nothing's wrong" you then squinted your eyes at him and said slowly "but….you look particularly suspicious right now…."

The boy then faked a gasp "Huuuh? Suspicious? What are you talking about? All I'm doing is smiling" and once again he flashed that mysterious grin.

"Yeah but your smiling at little too much!" you pointed out but you gave up. It was a pointless cause. If there was something up, he would never tell you. Carlos was always the kind to be up to some kind of mischief. "oh never mind…..but I think I need to go home now…my stupid social worker is probably waiting for me" you frowned at the thought of leaving Carlos. Just when you guys got together, you were pulled apart.

"True…butttttt what if I said you don't have to go with a social worker to some creepy unknown family?"he said, smiling like a hyperactive three year old.

You didn't understand what Carlos was getting at. "What are you on about?" you asked, shaking your head in confusion.

"Well last night after you fell asleep I made a few calls to your mum, your social worker and my mum" he began, getting excited with every word that passed through his lips "and guess what?"

Just as you were about reply with 'what', the boy shouted out, excitedly "You can live with me and my family!"

"What?" you gasped as you sat up, facing the grinning boy. "You mean…you mean…"

"Ii means my mum is willing you take care of you until your parents return to a more stable financial state and that we can be together no matter what" Carlos sat up and held your face in his hands "the social worker agreed to this after an hour long phone conversation of me whinging and whining and now there is nothing that can cause you anymore pain"

You were completely speechless. You had been with this boy for less than half a day and he had already made everything in your life okay in a matter of minutes. He put more effort and care into you on this one night than anyone ever did in your whole life. You didn't know how to thank him. How were you suppose to thank someone who saved your life? So in the end, all you could say was "I love you Carlos. I love you. I love you so much"

Your best friend then kissed you before saying "I love you even more. And I always will. You're not alone and you never ever will be. I'll make sure of it."


End file.
